Why The Birth Certificate Is Not A Proof Of Nationality In Ghana – Chief Justice Nominee Gertrude Explains

Chief Justice nominee, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, has explained why the birth certificate alone cannot be used to prove that one is Ghanaian.

According to her, the birth certificate is only used to show the place of birth of a person born in Ghana and not the citizenship of the person.

Speaking, during her vetting at Parliament on Friday, May 26, 2023, Justice Torkornoo further explained that in Ghana, citizenship is not determined by place of birth but by lineage.

“Citizenship is a matter of law; nationality is a matter of law. In certain jurisdictions being born in that place makes you a citizen of that country. In our country being born in Ghana does not make you a citizen of Ghana.

“It is your relationship with your mother, it is your mother’s identity, it is your father’s identity. It is your lineage that determines your citizenship.

“So, that form (the Birth Certificate) is actually an international requirement, we must know where everybody is born. That form assists to know your antecedent but beyond that, your nationality is derived from the information on that form. It is not the evidence of your nationality, it is the beginning of appreciating how your nationality must be determined,” she said.

The chief justice nominee made these remarks while answering a question on the Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that the birth certificate cannot be used as proof of nationality by the Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza.

Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, a justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, is being vetted for the Chief Justice position of the country after her nomination by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

If approved by the Parliament of Ghana, Justice Torkornoo will be the third appointment to the office of Chief Justice since Akufo-Addo became president in 2017.

She will also be the third female Chief Justice in the history of Ghana, following in the footsteps of Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

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